Scheria

Scheria (ancient Greek polytonic|Σχερίη or polytonic|Σχερία), also Scherie or Phaeacia, was a region of land in the eastern Mediterranean in Greek mythology, first mentioned in Homer's "Odyssey" as the home of the Phaiakians and the last destination of Odysseus before returning home to Ithaca.

Odysseus meets Nausikaa

In the "Odyssey", after Odysseus sails from Ogygia, his raft is wrecked by a storm and he is washed up on Scheria. Meanwhile, the goddess Athena instructs princess Nausikaa, the daughter of King Alkinoös in her sleep to go to the seashore to wash her clothes. The next morning Nausikaa and her maids go to the seashore, and after washing the clothes, they start to play a ball game [This is one of the earliest mentions of some sort of ball game in world literature] on the beach with laughs, giggles and shouts. Odysseus, who was exhausted from his adventure and was sleeping nearby, is awaken by the shouts, he covers his nakedness with thick leaves and goes to ask for help from the playing team. On seeing the unkempt Odysseus in this state, the maids run away, but Nausikaa, encouraged by Athena, stays to meet him and talk to him. To excuse the maids she admits that the Phaiakians are "the farthermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with them"Odyssey, VI.204] , so they run away since they have never seen a stranger before. Nausikaa being hospitable provides clothes, food and drink to Odysseus, then she directs him to the palace of King Alkinoös, since she doesn't want to be seen with a stranger, let alone a man, as she is yet unmarried and people watch and talk and may raise rumours of her been friends with men.

The palace of King Alkinoös

On his way to the palace, Odysseus meets Athena disguised as a little local girl. Athena advises him on how to enter the palace, which is guarded by mechanical dogs made of silver and gold, constructed by Hephestus. The palace is surrounded by bronze walls that "shine like the sun", secured with gates made of gold. Within the walls there is a magnificent garden [This is one of the earliest description of a garden in world literature] with trees that grow all kinds of fruit, pears, pomegranates, and apples, all the year round. The palace is even equipped with a lighting system consisting of golden statues of young men with lighted torches in their hands to give light during the night. Odysseus, covered with a cloaking cloud provided by Athena, passes through all the protection systems of the palace and enters the chamber of King Alkinoös. Naturally, Alkinoös and his court were surprised to see a stranger walking in to their secured palace.

After Odysseus tells Alkinoös and his court the story of his adventures after the Trojan War, the Phaiakians bring him to Ithaca on one of their sophisticated ships.

The Phaiakian ships

The Phaiakians possessed remarkable ships. They were quite different from the Ancient galleys, the ships used during the Trojan War, and they were steered by thought. King Alkinoös says that Phaiakians carried Rhadamanthus to Euboea, "which is the furthest of any place" and came back on the same day [Odyssey, Book VII, 320] . He also explains to Odysseus what sort of information the Phaiakian ships require in order to take him home to Ithaca.

Homer describes the Phaiakian ships as fast as a falcon and gives a vivid description of the ship's departure.

Geographical location of Scheria

Many ancient and modern interpreters favour identification of Scheria with the island of Corfu, which is within 80 miles of Ithaca. Locals on Corfu had long claimed this, based on the rock outside Corfu harbour, which is supposedly the ship that carried Odysseus back to Ithaca, but was turned to stone by Poseidon, to punish the Phaiakians for helping his enemy:

The Phaiakians did not participate in the .

Geographical account by Strabo

Approximately eight centuries after Homer, Strabo, the geographer criticized Polybius on the Geography of the Odyssey. Strabo proposed that Schería and Ogygia were located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

quotation
At another instance he (Polybius) suppresses statements. For Homer says also::"Now after the ship had left the river-stream of Oceanus" [Odyssey, XII, 1] and :"In the island of Ogygia, where is the navel of the sea," [Odyssey, I, 50] where the daughter of Atlas lives; and again, regarding the Phaiakians,:"Far apart we live in the wash of the waves, the farthermost of men, and no other mortals are conversant with us."Odyssey, VI, 204] All these (incidents) clearly suggest that he (Homer) composed them to take place in the Atlantic Ocean. [The original text of this passage by Strabo is: polytonic|ταῦτα γὰρ πάντα φανερῶς ἐν τῷ Ἀτλαντικῷ πελάγει πλαττόμενα δηλοῦται.] (Strabo, 1.2.18)

Notes

External links

* [http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html Odyssey by Homer]
* [http://www.robotwisdom.com/jaj/homer/odyssey.html Homer's Odyssey resources on the Web]
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/home.html Strabo: The Geography]